1. Field of Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a hand-held device for transferring a film of adhesive, covering or colored material from a backing tape onto a substrate and to a replaceable cartridge for refilling a hand-held device with a backing tape on which a film of adhesive, covering or colored material is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hand-held devices for transferring a film of adhesive or a correction tape or the like onto a substrate are known from prior art. Usually, such a hand-held device comprises a housing constituted of an upper housing body and a lower housing body, which are fixedly connected to each other to form the housing. Inside the housing there is provided a driving mechanism for the unused tape to be supplied to an application member protruding through an opening at a front end of the housing and for the used tape to be automatically wound onto another reel. However, after using up the correction tape or the like, the entire hand-held device has to be thrown away and cannot be reused anymore, which is quite a waste. Since the upper and the lower body are connected to each other fixedly after the interior components are fixed, it is not possible to reopen the housing for refilling the tape after it is used. Moreover, even if the housing would be re-openable, for a user it would not be easily possible to fix a new roll of correction tape or adhesive tape or the like onto the reels provided in the interior of the housing or on the inner walls, respectively, since the components are very small and the mounting would have to be carried out very precisely. Moreover, these tapes are very sensitive, so that placing a roll of tape on the reels such that the tape is guided along the correct path within the interior of the housing, would most probably end up in the tape being ruptured. Thus, every time the tape contained in a hand-held device is used up, the entire hand-held device has to be thrown away, rendering it very expensive. Moreover, a hand-held device can only be used for one type of tape, like, e.g., correction tape. For the use of another kind of tape, like, e.g., an adhesive tape, another hand-held device has to be bought by a user.
Another problem occurring with hand-held devices known from prior art is that the tip of the application member carrying the tape always protrudes from the housing, even when the hand-held device is not used, such that the very sensitive tape is always exposed to exterior influences and thus, can easily be injured or ruptured.
Therefore, an embodiment of the present invention is based on the object to provide a hand-held device, which is reusable or refillable, respectively, with a tape of any kind, wherein the replacement of the used tape by a new tape is very easy and uncomplicated for a user, and wherein the application member is protected from outer influences when the hand-held device is not being used.
This object is solved by a hand-held device having the features described below, and a replaceable cartridge to be used with the hand-held device having the features described below.